Winehouse's dad says he thinks seizure killed her (AP)

NEW YORK – Amy Winehouse's father says he believes she died after suffering a seizure related to alcohol detoxification and "there was nobody there to rescue her."

The soul diva, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23. Her family says toxicology reports indicated there was alcohol in her bloodstream but it was unclear whether this had contributed to her death at age 27.

Mitch Winehouse said Friday during a taping of Anderson Cooper's new syndicated talk show that traces of the prescription drug Librium, which is used to fight anxiety and withdrawal symptoms of alcoholism, were found in her body.

"Everything Amy did, she did to excess," he said on the show, which is to air as Cooper's debut Monday. "She drank to excess and did detox to excess."

He said he regretted that his daughter — whose most famous song, "Rehab," has her answering "no, no, no" when told to go to rehab — was trying to kick her alcoholism without a doctor's help. He said "the periods of abstinence were becoming longer, and the periods of drinking were becoming shorter. It was heading in the right direction."

The singer, whose other hits include "Tears Dry on Their Own," had suffered seizures during this period and would lose consciousness. Her father admitted he was speculating that this happened on the morning she died and said he should find out more conclusively how she died when a full inquest into her death begins next month.

Years earlier, when Amy Winehouse was on harder drugs including heroin and cocaine, her father said, he would not have been surprised if she had died.

Mitch Winehouse, who is starting his own singing career, was in New York when his daughter's security guard called him in July. Hearing the distraught tone of the security guard's voice, the father said his first words were, "Is she dead?"

Amy Winehouse's breakthrough "Back to Black" album was recently certified as the best-selling disc in Britain so far during the 21st century. The updated take on old-time soul also was responsible for five Grammy Awards.

"When she wasn't drinking," her father said, "she was absolutely on top of the world."

He occasionally dabbed tears from his eyes as Cooper's show ran video clips of her. He said he was comforted by the outpouring of support from her fans. Her mother, Janis Winehouse, said she's had people approach her to thank her for having the singer.

Mitch Winehouse said he blamed the singer's ex-husband, a music industry hanger-on, for introducing her to hard drugs but did not blame him for her death. He said she had not taken drugs since December 2008.

Amy Winehouse's boyfriend at the time of her death, Reg Traviss, said they had spent a quiet evening looking at pictures and watching DVDs two days before she died. They were looking forward to attending a friend's wedding in a few days and were planning a trip to St. Lucia around her Sept. 14 birthday.

He said he struggled to find the right moments to talk to his girlfriend about her drinking without seeming as though he was nagging.

"She was a really clever girl," Traviss said. "She knew what she was doing. I would sometimes choose my moments when there was something that was needed to be said."

Winehouse's family has set up a foundation to raise money to help people beat alcohol and drug addiction. Her father met with British political leaders to seek backing for setting up a drug rehab center in her name.

The foundation officially starts operation next week, and her father indicated that was why he was coming forth to do interviews about her.

Cooper's program donated $50,000 to the foundation, although spokeswoman Laura Mandel said the donation was made after the interview was set up and the booking wasn't contingent upon giving the foundation money.

Amy Winehouse's stepmother and aunt also appeared on Cooper's show.

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Music producer killed by gunmen in Jamaica (AP)

KINGSTON, Jamaica – A Jamaican music producer for a top reggae label has been shot to death outside his home in an upscale neighborhood of the Caribbean island's capital.

Police in Kingston say Joel Chin was attacked late Tuesday after he stepped out of his car in the driveway of his home. Police have not disclosed a possible motive.

Chin was the grandson of Vincent "Randy" Chin, a pioneering reggae producer from Jamaica who established VP Records in New York. The company has made stars out of artists like Sean Paul and Beenie Man.

VP Records says Joel Chin moved from New York to Jamaica two years ago to spend more time on music.

The label says the 35-year-old was instrumental in launching the careers of several reggae stars.

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Argentine singer Facundo Cabral killed in Guatemala (Reuters)

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Argentine singer Facundo Cabral, one of the stars of Latin American folk music, was shot dead in Guatemala City early on Saturday when gunmen riddled his car with bullets, authorities said.

Cabral, who rose to fame in the 1970s as a protest singer, was on his way to the airport when three vehicles boxed in his white Range Rover and opened fire, killing him and injuring his driver, Guatemala's Interior Minister Carlos Menocal said.

Police earlier said the driver was killed.

Born to a poor family in 1937, the outspoken Cabral was best known for his 1970 song "No Soy De Aqui, Ni Soy De Alla," ("I'm Not From Here, I'm Not From There Either") which was covered by many other artists including Julio Iglesias.

Cabral went into exile in Mexico during Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship. His songs later turned more spiritual and he continued to fill concert halls across Latin America. He had been in the Central American country on tour.

Argentine television stations interrupted their broadcasts with news of the 74-year-old singer's death.

Guatemalan president Alvaro Colom vowed swift action.

"We will find these criminals and bring them to justice," he told Argentine radio.

Colom said he spoke to Argentine President Cristina Fernandez to offer his condolences for the killing, the motive for which was unclear. Guatemala, one of the region's poorest countries, has one of Latin America's highest murder rates.

Guatemalan authorities said the gunmen peppered Cabral's car with 18 bullets in an exchange of fire with the singer's security detail, which was in a separate vehicle.

His driver, businessman Henry Farina, was injured, along with one person from Cabral's security detail. Enrique Vaca Narvaja, Argentina's consul to Guatemala, told Argentine television Farina may also have been a target.

Cabral was mourned by fans across Latin America. Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman paid tribute to the singer.

"The murder of Facundo Cabral in Guatemala brings us great sadness," he wrote on his Twitter account. "Adios amigo!"

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez followed suit: "We are weeping with Argentina."

Edgar Palacios, 54, a fan in Guatemala City, said the singer would not be forgotten.

"Facundo Cabral died but his music will never die, just like John Lennon died but his music never died," he said. "Cabral wasn't just from one country. He was a universal man."

Guatemala has been racked by incursions from Mexican drug gangs, notably the brutal Zetas cartel.

Colom has struggled to contain the violence and Cabral's murder is an embarrassment to the president just two months before a first round of presidential elections which polls show his center-left National Union of Hope party (UNE) may lose. Colom himself is barred by law from seeking re-election.

(Additional reporting by Alejandro Lifschitz and Walter Bianchi in Buenos Aires; Writing by Dave Graham and Jason Lange; Editing by Vicki Allen and Doina Chiacu)

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Folk singer Facundo Cabral killed in Guatemala (AP)

GUATEMALA CITY – One of Latin America's most admired folk singers, Facundo Cabral, was killed Saturday when three carloads of gunmen ambushed the vehicle in which he was riding, prompting expressions of anguish from across the region. Authorities said the performer's concert promoter was apparently the target.

Interior Minister Carlos Menocal said the Argentine singer and novelist was on his way to Guatemala's main airport at 5:20 a.m. when cars flanked it on both sides and gunmen opened fire as a third vehicle blocked it from the front.

Speaking at a news conference along with President Alvaro Colom, the minister said early investigations indicated the bullets were meant for the driver, Cabral's Nicaraguan promoter, Henry Farinas, who was wounded.

Cabral, 74, rose to fame in the early 1970s, one of a generation of singers who mixed political protest with literary lyrics and created deep bonds with an audience struggling through an era of revolution and repression across Latin America.

Colom said he had called his Argentine counterpart, Cristina Fernandez, to tell her of the slaying.

"It seemed to hit her hard and she asked me to keep her informed about how the investigation is developing," he told Argentina's Radio 10.

At the news conference later, he said the slaying was committed by "people involved in organized crime. They are not street killers. It's a well-planned operation." But officials said they were not sure of the motive.

Cabral's vehicle was trailed by a vehicle carrying four bodyguards, who opened fire and tried to chase the attackers, Menocal said.

Officials later found one of the vehicles apparently used in the attack alongside a highway toward El Salvador. Menocal said flak jackets, pistols and the magazine of a Kalashnikov assault rifle were found inside.

Menocal said Cabral initially planned to take a hotel shuttle to the airport, but accepted a ride from Farinas.

Cabral was a confirmed vagabond, born poor in 1937 in the provincial city of La Plata after his father abandoned their large family. At the age of 9, he began hitchhiking alone up the length of Argentina to beg for a job for his mother.

He did odd jobs and was illiterate until he got some education in a reformatory as a teenager. He eventually picked up a guitar, singing in the manner of his idol, Argentine folklorist Atahualpa Yupanqui.

Cabral began singing for tourists in the beach resort of Mar del Plata, and by 1970 became internationally known through his song "No soy de aqui ni alla" — "I'm Not From Here Nor There — which was recorded hundreds of times in many languages.

By the time Argentina fell under military rule in 1976, Cabral was clearly identified as a protest singer, and so he fled for his life to Mexico, where he kept recording, writing books and giving concerts.

He lost his wife and a 1-year-old daughter in a plane crash in 1978.

His concerts were a mix of philosophy and folklore, spoken-word poems and music reflecting his roots in the gaucho culture of rural Argentina. He identified himself as an anarchist at times, professing a spirituality unchained to any particular religion. On stage, he celebrated the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa, the humanism of Walt Whitman and the observations of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.

"Facundo Cabral was our last troubadour. As much a philosopher-poet as a singer, he was a living testament to the search for what unites us in culture and society," said Argentine singer Isabel de Sebastian. "After his concerts, you'd feel that our life in common was richer, more mysterious, more profound."

He lived mostly on the road, in hotels and with friends, telling interviewers that he owned no home. He was particularly proud that UNESCO declared him to be an "international messenger of peace" in 1996. By the end, he often used a cane and had trouble with his vision, but refused to slow down.

"I always ask God, 'Why have you given me so much?' You've given me misery, hunger, happiness, struggle, enlightenment ... I've seen everything. I know there's cancer, syphilis and springtime, and fried apple dumplings," Cabral said at 71, during an Associated Press interview in Miami.

He never thought of retiring: "I can't stop, I wouldn't be able to," he said. "I breathe on the road ... on stage I'm 50 years younger, it pleases me to excite people with life."

Cabral said then he would like to die while on a concert tour.

Cabral gave his last concert Thursday in the city of Quetzaltenango, 120 miles (200 kilometers) west of Guatemala City.

Guatemala's 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchu, went to the scene of the killing and wept. "For me, Facundo Cabral is a master," she said. "He loved Guatemala greatly." Other Guatemalans also came to the site, leaving flowers.

Words of mourning came from the presidents of Colombia and Ecuador, and even the Twitter site of Venezuela's ailing President Hugo Chavez carried a message of condolence to Argentina at the death of "the great troubadour of the Pampas."

Argentina's foreign minister, Hector Timerman, also sent a Twitter message, saying "Adios, amigo" and expressing "profound sadness."

Social networks were filled with expressions of outrage. "I feel an immeasurable shame, a profound anger for my country," said Ronalth Ochaeta, former director of a Catholic Church human rights office Guatemala, on his Facebook account.

___

Associated Press writers Gisela Salomon in Miami and Michael Warren in Buenos Aires contributed to this story

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LaToya Jackson says Michael feared he'd be killed (AP)

NEW YORK – Michael Jackson spent the last months of his life frightened and on edge, convinced that he would be killed by people wanting to get access to his valuable music catalog, according to his sister, LaToya Jackson.

Jackson makes the claims in her new book, "Starting Over," which also chronicles her own troubles, including an abusive marriage to her late ex-manager/husband, Jack Gordon.

Jackson says that she and her brother went through similar experiences of being controlled and manipulated by shadowy figures that cut them off from their family.

"The difference is, I was eventually able to get away and start over; Michael can't start over," she said.

Saturday will mark the two-year anniversary of the King of Pop's death at age 50. Dr. Conrad Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter, accused of giving him an overdose of the anesthetic propofol and other sedatives. He has pleaded not guilty; the trial is set for September.

However, Jackson's sister called Murray "the fall guy." She said there were other people who needed to be investigated and described Jackson's death as part of a wide conspiracy. Jackson was the co-owner of the lucrative Sony/ATV catalog, the copyright holder of the Beatles' and other artists' songs, and his older sister contends he was murdered for control of it.

"This is definitely something that was premeditated, that they had planned to do, and they planned to take my brother out, and my brother knew it, and that's why my brother told me repeatedly, repeatedly and repeatedly, that this was going to happen to him," she said in an interview Wednesday. "He explained to me, `It's because of my catalog.'"

Jackson had harsh words for John Branca, the co-executor of Jackson's estate, accusing him of being more interested in his own interests than those of the beneficiaries of the estate_ Jackson's mother, his three children and charitable causes.

"They care about what they can do and what they can get their hands on, and no one in the family has anything to do with the estate," she said. "At this point, blatantly said, John Branca right now is Michael Jackson."

In response to Jackson's statements, the estate issued this statement: "After numerous hearings and after reviewing evidence contained in countless filings and exhibits, three California courts have decided John Branca and John McClain are the rightful and lawful executors of Michael Jackson's Estate just as Michael specified in his will.

"Mr. Branca and Mr. McClain have turned the estate around financially for the benefit of Michael's children and mother, protected the intellectual property and music catalog assets Michael accumulated during his lifetime as well as carried out their mandate to shelter and preserve funds for his children until they reach certain ages as adults. Their performance as the executors of Michael's estate is a matter of extensive public record and speaks for itself."

Jackson's three children — Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket — are being cared for by Jackson's mother, Katherine. Unlike when they were in their father's care, they no longer shield their faces with masks and have entered private school: "They are adjusting very well," Jackson said.

Jackson, who has appeared on "Celebrity Apprentice" and "Dancing With the Stars" since her brother's death, was once estranged from her brother and the rest of her family. She even went so far as to support charges that Jackson was a child molester when he was first accused of the crime in 1993 (he was not charged in that case and was acquitted of similar charges in 2005).

But she said she was then under the control of her ex-husband, who forced her to say negative things about her brother. She said Gordon beat her on a regular basis and threatened the lives of her family; she eventually broke away from him with the intervention of her brother Randy, according to the book.

Jackson, who now calls Michael "godlike," said the day she spoke out against her brother was the worst day of her life. However, she said Jackson forgave her.

"He said, `LaToya ... I know your heart, and I know you would never do anything like that, and I know he forced you and made you to do that," she said. "He says, `I love you, and I will always love you.'"

Jackson said she's gratified that Jackson's once tarnished image has been rehabilitated after his death.

"I think it's wonderful that people remember him in a wonderful light," she said.

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LA rapper M-Bone killed in drive-by shooting (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Los Angeles rapper M-Bone, a member of the group Cali Swag District, was killed in what appeared to be a drive-by shooting, police and celebrity news sites said on Monday.

Police said a man was shot while outside a liquor store in the Inglewood area on Los Angeles on Sunday night and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Website TMZ.com identified him as rapper M-Bone, whose real name is Montae Talbert.

M-Bone was a member of hip-hop group Cali Swag District who found success with the 2010 single dance hit "Teach Me How to Dougie".

TMZ.com quoted police sources as saying that M-Bone was shot twice in the head and appeared to have been a random victim in a drive-by shooting by an unknown assailant.

M-Bone's age was given variously by authorities as 19 and 22.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, Editing by Christine Kearney)

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'Restrepo' Director Tim Hetherington Killed in Libya

Oscar-nominated director Tim Hetherington died Wednesday in the midst of heavy fighting in Libya, The Washington Post reports.

Hetherington, 40, was in the war-torn country with Pulitzer Prize-nominated American photojournalist Chris Hondros, 41, and were killed when fighting broke out between Moammar Gaddafi's forces and rebels in the city of Misrata. Two other photojournalists were also hurt during the attack.

British-born Hetherington rose to fame when 'Restrepo,' his documentary chronicling the deployment of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year. He was most recently based in Brooklyn, New York.

On Tuesday the director took to Twitter to update his followers on the situation in Libya. "In besieged Libyan city of Misrata," he wrote. "Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO."
According to CNN, Hetherington also served as a contributing photographer for 'Vanity Fair.' The magazine issued a statement from the director's family.

"It is with great sadness we learned that our son and brother, photographer and filmmaker Tim Hetherington, was killed today in Misrata, Libya, by a rocket-propelled grenade," the statement said. "Tim will be remembered for his amazing images and his Academy Award-nominated documentary 'Restrepo.' "

The statement continued, "Tim was in Libya to continue his ongoing multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict. He will be forever missed."Filed under: Movie News - Celebrity Deaths
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DJ Megatron Shot and Killed in Staten Island

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